Accounting file or register.



W. E. BURKS.

ACCOUNTING FILEOR REGiSTER.

APPLICATION FILED mums. 1914.

Patented July 4, 1916.

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WILLIAM E. BURKS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

ACCOUNTING FILE OR REGISTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed June 23, 1914. Serial No. 846,854.

To all w ham it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. BURKS, citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAccounting Files or Registers, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in filing cabinetsand has particular reference to those of the type em ployed in filingdaily counter sale slips.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a filing cabinet ofthe type specified, which is simple in construction and may, therefore,be cheaply manufactured and is so designed as regards the constructionand general arrangement of the slip receiving drawers that the slips maybe quickly inserted in the proper place or removed with equal rapidity.l

A further and more specific object of my invention is to provide acabinet consisting in a plurality of individual slip receiving drawerswhich may, in number, be equal to the letters of the alphabet so thatthe sale slips may be easily filed under an alphabetical system.

A still further object of my invention is to mount each individual slipreceiving drawer in a retaining plate and to provide each drawer with anautomatic catch which,when the drawer is pulled from the retainingplate, will engage co-acting catches formed thereon to permit the drawerto be swung downwardly in dependent horizontal position so that accessmay be easily had to the variou sale slips.

The above recited and other incidental obj ects of a similar nature.which will be'hereinafter more specifically treated, are accomplished bysuch means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described inthe following specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe claims, which are appended hereto'and form a part of thisapplication. I

With reference to the drawings, wherein there has been illustratedthepreferred embodiment of this invention asitis reduced to practice,andthroughout the several views of which similar reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is'a detail perspective Viewillustrating one of the slip receiving drawers and retaining platetherefor, thisview also showing the catch member employed in adaptingthe drawer to be withdrawn from the retaining plate and then swungdownwardly in dependent position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one terminalof the retaining plate shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating particularly themanner in which the catch in Fig. l operates;Fig. 3 is a detailperspective view of a drawer and retaining plate, showing a slightmodification of the device. I

In carrying out my invention, I provide a retaining plate 39 and adrawer 4:0. The re taining plate 39 is formed from a single blank ofsheet metal, the longitudinal margins of which are upturned to providethe parallel side, walls 41 and 42. The bottom wall 43 of the member 39is, however, flat and unobstructed. On the forward edges of the sidewalls 41 and 42 are formed catch members at which extend inwardly towardthe opposite ends thereof in parallel spaced relation to the said walls.The retaining plate 39 is mounted within one of the drawer receivingcompartments of a cabinet in the manner of an ordinary drawer, but sincethe cabinet and its drawer receiving compartments does not form any partof the present invention and may be constructed along any standardlines, it has not been illustrated.

The drawer 4:0 is formed from a single sheet of metal and includes abottom wall 45, parallel side walls idand 47 and end walls 48 and 49.The hinge member employed in pivotally connecting thedrawer 40 to theretaining plate 39 so that the drawer will be capable of swinging aswell as sliding movement with respect to the plate consists in a singlelength of'wire which is bent to produce'a substantially U-shaped bodyportion 50. The'terminals of the arms 51 of the member 50 are bent atright angles to produce the portions 52 which extend parallel to thebight. of the U-portion 50. The U- shaped member 50 and the extensions52 all liein the same plane. The terminals of the extensions 52 are,however, bent atright angles, producing the catch fingers 53 whichliejin a plane intersecting the plane of the members50 and 52 at rightangles. Adjacent the side walls 46 and 47 there are formed in the bottomwall 45 and at the rear terminal thereof, two slots indicated at 54 and55. Communicating with these slots there are formed, in the lower 'edgeof the end wall 4.9, the recesses or openings 56 and i 59 and a drawer60.

57 which are adapted to receive the arms 51 of the U-shaped portion 50when the drawer is in closed position within the retaining late 39. Itis of course necessary to pivotally attach the bight of the U-shapedportion 50 to the bottom wall 45. For this purpose, therefore, I providehinge leaves 58. These hinge leaves 58 are formed by releasing portionsof the metal of the bottom wall as shown particularly in Fig. 4 and bybending these released portions of metal about the hinge rod.

It is now to be noted that the extensions 52 are of such length that thecatch fingers 53 may be swung to a position along the outer faces of theside walls 46 and 47. The purpose in thus disposing the catch fingerswill. be obvious, reference being had particularly to Fig. 5, in whichfigure, it will be noted that the catch fingers are adapted to engageagainst the inner faces of the side walls 41 and 42 of the plate 39 andare designed to engage with the catches 44 when the drawer has beenpulled from the retaining plate. When the catch fingers 53 are engagedwith the members 44, it is obvious that the arms 51 and extensions 52will bear against the bottom wall 43 of the retaining plate, thusserving to hold the bight portion of the member 50 in relatively fixedposition so that the drawer 40 will be swung on the member 50 intodepending position for enabling the user of the cabinet to readilyremove or insert sale slips. It will be observed that the U-shaped bodyportion 50 with its arms 51 of the hinge member for the drawer,constitutes a crank. and that the fingers 53 of the said hinge memberare adapted to engage the catches of the retaining member for holdingthe said crank from turning movement about its axis so that the crankwill properly support the drawer in depending position when withdrawnfrom the retaining member.

The modified form of my invention, as shown in Fig. 6, includes, as dothe other two forms of the device, a retaining plate The member 59 issimilar to the member 39 of Fig. 4,.while the member 60 is substantiallysimilar to the number 40, except that the rear terminals of the bottomwall 61 is provided with a relatively large opening 62. This opening 62receives the leg 63 of a substantially L-shaped plate 64. The terminalof the member 63 is provided with the hinge leaves or tubular members 65through which passes a hinge rod 67 Portions of the bottom wall 61 arereleased in the manner hereinbefore explained in connection with themembers 58 of Fig. 4 for the purpose ofproperly attaching the hinge rodto the bottom wall. To the leg 68 of the plate 64 is secured a bar 69which is of a length equal to the distance between the side walls of theretaining plate 59. It will be readily appreciated, when reference ishad to Fig. .6, that when it is desired to dispose the drawer within theretaining plate, the end wall 7 0 of the drawer may be swung to engageagainst the member 69. It will also be noted that when the drawer iswithdrawn from the plate 59, the terminalsof the bar 69 will engage withthe catch members 71 of the retaining plate side walls. When theterminals of the bars 69 are thus engaged, the portion 63 of the plate64 will be relatively fixed upon the bottom wall of the member 59 and asa result, the plate 64 will form a pivotal support for the drawer 60 sothat this member may be readily swung downwardly on the rod 67 andarranged in dependent position.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of thisinvention illustrated in the drawings, and referred to in the abovedescription as the preferred embodiment, is

the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditionsconcurrent with the adoption of this device will necessarily vary, it isdesired to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details ofconstruction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to,when required, H

without sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as definedin the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is'claimed as new is:

1. A drawer of the character described including a retaining platehaving parallel side walls provided terminally with catch members, adrawer body slidable over the retaining plate, a catch member pivotallyattached to the drawer body, said catch member consisting of a singlelength of wire bent intermediate its length to produce a substantiallyU-shaped conformation and having right angularly extending terminalportions adapted to engage between the fixed catch members and the sidewalls of the retaining plate when the drawer is withdrawn therefrom.

2. A drawer of the character described including a retaining platehaving parallel sidewalls provided terminally with catch members, adrawer body slidable over the retaining plate, a catch member pivotallyattached to the drawer body, said catch mem- 7 ber consisting of asingle length of wire bent intermediate its length to produce asubstantially U-shaped conformation and having right angularly extendingterminal portions adapted to engage between the fixed catch the fixedcatches serving to hold the U- shaped portions of the second mentionedcatch 1n relatively fixed position on the bottom wall of the retainingplate, whereby the drawer body may be swung about the bight portion ofthe U-shaped member into dependent position.

3. A drawer of the character described including a retaining elementhaving side walls reduced at their outer extremities and bent to formcatch members extending between said walls, a drawer body, and a hingemember carried by the drawer body and provided with portions extendingadjacent to the side walls and shiftable to engage said catch members.

4:. A drawer of the character described including a retaining elementprovided with catch members, a drawer body and a substantially U-shapedhinge member having its bight portion connected to the drawer andprovided with fingers extending laterally therefrom relative to theplane of the bight portion, the drawer being shiftable to engage thefingers with the said catch members with the drawer depending from thesaid bight portion.

5. A drawer of the character described including a retaining elementprovided with catch members, a drawer body notched to re ceive a hingemember, and a substantially U- shaped hinge member having its bightportion freely connected to the drawer body with the arms thereofextending through said notches and provided with fingers extendinglaterally therefrom relative to the plane of the bight portion and saidarms, the

drawer being shiftable to engage the fingers with said catch members.

6. A drawer of the character described including a retaining elementprovided with catch members, a drawer body, and a crank member connectedby its crank portion to the drawer body and provided with upstandingfingers, the drawer being shiftable upon the retaining element to aposition with the said fingers engaging the catch members for holdingthe crank from turning movement about its axis and being movable aboutthe said crank portion to depend therefrom.

7. A' drawer of the character described including a retaining elementprovided with catch members projecting inwardly from the sides thereof,a drawer body, and a hinge member provided intermediate its ends with acrank connected to the drawer, the hinge member having fingers formedthereon and the drawer being shiftable upon the retaining element toengage the fingers with the catch members for supporting the crank inposition to extend laterally from the retaining element with the arms ofthe crank engaging the bottom wall of the retaining element and with thedrawer depending from the said crank.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. BURKS. [n s.] Witnesses:

I. R. WILSON, GEORGE P. FULTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cent! each, by lddreuingthe Commissioner of Patents,

walhington, D. 0."

